You’re Still The One
Sigrid takes you on a trip down memory lane, to when she and Van Ark first met Cast * Sigrid Hakkinen * Ian Golightly * Professor Ernest Van Ark * Moonchild Plot Away From Prying Ears Before you can set off on your run with Sigrid, Ian interrupts for a quick word about his position at Abel, and Owen's punishment. Sigrid puts him in his place and whisks you away somewhere more private. Get Moving! Sigrid has decided she can trust you, and to show that trust she confides in you the story of how she met Van Ark, and got to this important point in her life. Never Make It It was a literal collision with destiny when Sigrid and Van Ark, or Ernest, met during their student days. They ran into each other in that classic nerd-with-books vs runner way, and hated each other instantly. It's Tipping Down! On the way to a talk by Professor Holloway, Sigrid and Ernest bumped into each other again, metaphorically this time. They discovered they had more in common than they thought, and hit it off. Come For A Meditative Run At a conference in Paris, while sheltering from rain under the doorway of Notre Dame cathedral, Ernest proposed in the least romantic way possible - as a way for Sigrid to get a permanent British visa. Across The Concourse With only a marriage of convenience, Sigrid kept her true feelings hidden. It wasn't until Moonchild persuaded her she had to break away that Ernest realised he really did love his wife. Get Out Of Here Darling After their reconciliation at the airport Sigrid and Ernest agreed to do everything together from then on, including working on the zombie virus. Sigrid thought she'd put safeguards in place, but one little slip up with Patient 29 and the virus was released 10 years too soon. Thank You For Listening Right from the start of the apocalypse Sigrid and Ernest agreed; he would have to play the villain and she would have to play the hero. Sigrid doesn't blame you for Ernest's death, that was how it had to be. Have A Safe Trip Back at Abel Sigrid's transport to London has arrived, and she has to be going. Ian is positively delighted to be placed in charge while she's away. S05E16 // Rofflenet Discussion regarding this mission can be found on Rofflenet Transcript SIGRID HAKKINEN: Runner Five, how lovely to see you. IAN GOLIGHTLY: Minister, can I have a quick word? SIGRID HAKKINEN: Not now, Ian. IAN GOLIGHTLY: But Minister, as you’re leaving soon, there are one or two matters that need your attention. One or two documents to sign. The detention order on that runner, Owen. Shall we extend it for two weeks? SIGRID HAKKINEN: Oh no, I don’t think so. A couple of days in the box is enough for him to learn his lesson. Let him out. Send him back to work with Veronica. IAN GOLIGHTLY: But he tried to betray you, Minister! SIGRID HAKKINEN: And he’s doing very good work with dwarf barley. Tell him if he tries to escape again, we’ll shoot Nadia. IAN GOLIGHTLY: laughs Oh, very good, Minister! What an excellent idea! And can we talk through the line of command in your absence? My relationship to Steven, for example. SIGRID HAKKINEN: For goodness’ sake, Mister Golightly, I’m not leaving immediately. There’s a transport to London coming for me this evening. Plenty of time for your paperwork. And plenty of time for Five and I to have a run and a conversation. IAN GOLIGHTLY: Oh. I thought you and I were going to have tea together, Minister. I’ve got extra Viscount biscuits. SIGRID HAKKINEN: I don’t even like Viscount biscuits, Mister Golightly. I don’t know why you keep on about them. Just wait here until Five and I get back. We have much to discuss. Come with me, Five. Quickly, please. I want to talk to you away from prying ears. SIGRID HAKKINEN: I wasn’t sure whether to trust you or not, Five. Janine De Luca is dead, but of course, death can just increase loyalty. I should know. You know, you’re one of the few people left alive who knew my husband Ernest. Professor Van Ark. Of course, you did kill him, but I understand. You didn’t know then all you know now. And believe me, Five, you’ve barely begun to scratch the surface. If all goes well, I’d really like to initiate you into the deeper mysteries. I think of myself as a spiritual descendant of Doctor Dee, in a way. To make a man die and bring him back to life is the deepest mystery. Well, perhaps love is a mystery deeper than that. I don’t often tell people this story, Five, but I want to tell you. You kept faith with me on the jetty with Tom. For a moment, I thought you might leave with him, but you’ve proved your loyalty. And so I’m going to tell you about myself, and my husband, so you can understand who I am, and how much loyalty really means to me. It was a day much like this when we first met. I was a student. I was on the running track at Cambridge, trying to set a personal best. I was a member of the running team, and they kept us on our toes. COACH: Come on, Hakkinen, get moving. gunshot SIGRID HAKKINEN: Run with me, Five. Run! lines mixed with narration from the present time SIGRID HAKKINEN: So, I was running along, legs pumping, when out of nowhere - Hey! Get out of the way! - some man had just wandered onto the track. He was just standing there, holding a pile of books. ERNEST VAN ARK: I don’t see why I should have to get out of the way - SIGRID HAKKINEN: Watch out! ERNEST VAN ARK: Oh, for goodness’ sake! SIGRID HAKKINEN: You should have got out of the way. ERNEST VAN ARK: You should have looked where you were going. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Why didn’t you stay off the track? ERNEST VAN ARK: I have my mind on higher things. I’m working on something rather important to the future of the human race, in fact, not just pounding endless lengths of the same useless track. I’m Ernest. Ernest Van Ark, PhD student. I got a double first in biological sciences. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Sigrid Hakkinen. Erasmus exchange student from Helsinki. But I like it in the UK. I think I’ll stay. I’m going to be Prime Minister one day. Then I’ll be in charge of your funding. ERNEST VAN ARK: laughs How much good will that do you when I’m in charge of life and death? SIGRID HAKKINEN: laughs You are the most absurd man I’ve ever met! ERNEST VAN ARK: You are the most insufferable woman I’ve ever met. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Good, then! ERNEST VAN ARK: Fine, then. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Good bye! I hoped I’d never see him again. And I didn’t, until a couple of years later, when I was a graduate student in political philosophy. I was on my way to a lecture by a rather controversial thinker. Hey, there’s my bus. Oh, I’ll never make it! Run! lines mixed with narration from the present time SIGRID HAKKINEN: Hold the doors! Oh, thank you. Oh. It’s you. ERNEST VAN ARK: Ah, the most insufferable woman in England. I see you still are in England. Prime Minister yet? SIGRID HAKKINEN: Are you in charge of life and death yet? ERNEST VAN ARK: I suppose you are on your way to the union, are you? SIGRID HAKKINEN: I am, actually. ERNEST VAN ARK: For Professor Holloway’s talk? Presumably you’re there for the protests. SIGRID HAKKINEN: No, I’m a great admirer of his work. Anyone who protests against him is an idiot. ERNEST VAN ARK: That’s the first sensible thing I’ve ever heard you say. I have my copy of his book, Wakened Land, with me. I’m going to get it signed. SIGRID HAKKINEN: You can’t have understood his work properly. ERNEST VAN ARK: I think you’ll find that Professor Holloway’s very misunderstood by social scientists. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Do you really think you understand what he says about war? That it’s a useless act? ERNEST VAN ARK: Useless, yes. But not for the reason someone like you would think. SIGRID HAKKINEN: I understand it perfectly. Holloway’s argument is simple enough for a child to grasp. War takes the young and healthy. What the world needs is to send the elderly and unwell into war. Only by that kind of selective pressure will we remove ourselves from our current evolutionary cul-de-sac. ERNEST VAN ARK: Yes. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors were actually better than us. Smarter, more agile, all around experts at various skills. The trouble with us is it’s been too long since we last faced an extinction event. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Yes. Only microbes can get through our defenses now. And there are no microbes that select for intelligence, skill, ingenuity, or sheer will to survive. ERNEST VAN ARK: Huh. I expect you might enjoy the lecture after all. SIGRID HAKKINEN: I’ve spoken to him many times. I know his daughter. ERNEST VAN ARK: I’m invited to the dinner after the lecture. SIGRID HAKKINEN: So am I. I didn’t expect to become friends with him, but we both joined the Wakened Land society, and we had so much to talk about. There were so few people who could understand what we were saying, who didn’t look at the world through the same sentimental lens. We spent long nights talking about our ideas on overpopulation, genetic weakness, and how much could be accomplished by a few bright, highly motivated individuals. I started to feel quite differently about him. He was a very dashing young man. A year or so later, we were attending the same genetics conference in Paris. ERNEST VAN ARK: I say, do you fancy finding a little bistro somewhere and getting some supper? SIGRID HAKKINEN: Oh, that’d be lovely. ERNEST VAN ARK: It’s tipping down. We’d better make a run for it. lines mixed with narration from the present time SIGRID HAKKINEN: There. We can shelter in the doorway of Notre Dame. ERNEST VAN ARK: You’re shivering. Here, let me put my arm around you. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Thank you. I’ve always hated cathedrals. So much labor wasted by generations of peasants on an imaginary god. But I think I like this one now. ERNEST VAN ARK: Oh, I agree. Religion’s been one of the greatest prisons for mankind. By the way, what’s this I hear about your moving back to Finland? The Wakened Land needs you to stay around and be Prime Minister, you know. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Can’t stay once my student visa’s expired. ERNEST VAN ARK: What will you do in Finland? SIGRID HAKKINEN: The work continues everywhere, of course. I can join Wakened Land in Helsinki. It’ll be a shame not to be near you anymore. I’ll… I’ll miss you. ERNEST VAN ARK: I’ll miss you too, old thing. We have such great conversations. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Yes, I also enjoy our conversations. ERNEST VAN ARK: laughs Say, I have an idea. SIGRID HAKKINEN: What? What are you doing? ERNEST VAN ARK: I’m getting down on one knee in front of a cathedral. Sigrid Hakkinen, will you marry me? Come on, just for the visa. It’ll save you having to leave the country. SIGRID HAKKINEN: I almost said no. I was twenty-five. I knew I had feelings for him, I just didn’t want to get married like this. But it was the right choice. We had a quiet registry office wedding that summer, and we lived as friends in the same house. It was difficult for me when he brought his girlfriends over, but I used my time wisely. I made interesting friends of my own. MOONCHILD: Marriage is so heavy, man. Messing with it isn’t something you want to do lightly to your karma. Come on, Sigrid. Come for a meditary run with me. It’ll clear your head. lines mixed with narration from the present time MOONCHILD: Everything’s connected. What affects the part affects the whole. So you have to let him go! That’s the only way you can ever own anything, man. SIGRID HAKKINEN: It’s easier said than done. I love him. MOONCHILD: I know, man. I know. SIGRID HAKKINEN: I overanalyze every little thing he says and does, looking for clues, hoping that he’ll realize that I do mean as much to him as he does to me. I know it’s just nature, evolutionary psychology. Women pine for men, men sleep around. I know this is normal. I want it to be different. MOONCHILD: Man, sometimes I think about what a blessing it’d be just to stop thinking. Like, if we could help everyone just stop thinking… man, we’d save the human race. SIGRID HAKKINEN: How’s your work going? MOONCHILD: Really well, ja. Thanks for asking! Ja, the drugs in the water supply worked perfectly. They make the subjects susceptible. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Ernest’s work on regenerating brain tissue was also going well. And I’d been put on the fast track in the civil service and was climbing the ladder. Wakened Land was frequently in my mind as I tried to work out where humanity had gone so wrong. I thought a lot at that time about Moonchild’s idea that everything was connected. I spent some time going through the classified files at the Ministry of Culture. Material from the Viking era that was still considered too sensitive to release to the public. And I started to have an idea. That Moonchild was right: you have to let things go for something new and beautiful to bloom. I couldn’t be the sad girl sitting around in Ernest’s house every evening, waiting to see which other woman he’d bring home any longer. I left a note on the kitchen table saying that I was going home to Finland, and wanted a divorce. ANNOUNCER: Flight 3358 to Helsinki is now boarding. Will all remaining passengers please make their way to departing gate 15 for Flight 3358 to Helsinki. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Here’s my boarding pass and passport. Mustn’t forget that. ERNEST VAN ARK: Sigrid! Sigrid! SIGRID HAKKINEN: Please let me through. I can’t let him see me. Please! ERNEST VAN ARK: Sigrid! I’ve been an idiot. It’s you I love. You’re the one! You always have been! SIGRID HAKKINEN: I couldn’t help myself. I ran across the concourse to him. lines mixed with narration from the present time ERNEST VAN ARK: Oh, Sigrid. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Ernest. Is this real? Not just a silly game? Because I really don’t think I can bear it if it’s just a stupid game for you. ERNEST VAN ARK: I’ve been an idiot, Sigrid. I’m sorry. I’ve known how you felt for a long time. I think I… I think I thought you’d always be there, that I could have you whenever I wanted. SIGRID HAKKINEN: And now? ERNEST VAN ARK: If you’ll stay with me, I only want you. You’re the one, Sigrid! Please give me a chance. I’m afraid to admit how much I love you. SIGRID HAKKINEN: I think I’ve loved you since the day we met. ERNEST VAN ARK: Whatever we do from now on, we’ll do it together. SIGRID HAKKINEN: We did work together then, in everything. I helped him with his work, he gave me ideas for mine. You can’t imagine what it feels like to have someone who’s always on your side, how much that strengthens you. I made it my business to work in as many civil service departments as possible. Then I started to notice some interesting connections. The Health Department held ancient records of medieval and Elizabethan outbreaks of an unknown virus, which had disappeared when the black British pika, a small vole-like mammal, went extinct. The Department of Culture held manuscripts with ancient legends about this virus, how you had to be cunning, brave, and resourceful to survive it. I began to wonder if this virus was somehow symbiotic with humanity, if it had made us what we are, and if we could resurrect it, to winnow humanity down to the finest and best of us again, to waken the sleeping land. You see why I wanted it, don’t you, Five? We have to think in terms longer than our own lives, or even several generations. We have to think of the good of the whole species. Ernest and Moonchild knew, in the broadest terms, what I hoped eventually to achieve. I split the research between them, but to keep them safe, I didn’t share my whole plan with anyone. And there were already spies trying to interfere with my work. One of Moonchild’s colleagues, Jerrold, started the group Netrophil, to try to discredit me before the work was half begun. I thought it would be a decade at least before we’d be able to synthesize that long-dead virus. And then we could decide what to do with it. But even the most perfect system can fail. I didn’t realize that one patient was shared between both studies. It went wrong so quickly. Even Ernest and I were shocked when we first saw them. Creatures. ERNEST VAN ARK: Dear God, look at them. We’ve done this. Half dead, half alive. SIGRID HAKKINEN: The land has woken. This was what we wanted. They will sift out the very best of us. shatters ERNEST VAN ARK: We have to get out of here, darling. Run! lines mixed with narration from the present time SIGRID HAKKINEN: Ernest, where shall we go? ERNEST VAN ARK: I’ll go to my lab. We might be able to slow this down somehow, take control of it as we always planned. SIGRID HAKKINEN: And if you can’t? ERNEST VAN ARK: You go to the Ministry, now. Put your plans into action to rebuild the country in the new way. When people learn that patient zero came from my study, they’ll blame me for the plague anyway. They need someone to trust, as well as someone to blame. SIGRID HAKKINEN: So you’ll be the villain? ERNEST VAN ARK: And you’ll be the hero. They need you. SIGRID HAKKINEN: I love you. ERNEST VAN ARK: And I love you, you silly darling. Now, go! SIGRID HAKKINEN: That was the last time I saw him. He did what he’d said he’d do: he became the villain. I had any information about us or our marriage removed from libraries and surviving databases. We’d always been very discreet about our marriage anyway. It started with those years of not wanting the visa situation looked into too closely. So, there wasn’t much information to remove. I still miss him. Every day. The plague broke out before we understood it fully, and before we had a cure, but I see now that that’s how it had to be. It all happened as it was meant to. I was being tested too. The plague winnowed out the fittest leader for the Wakened Lands. It was the hardest test I’ve ever faced, but I passed it. Thanks to me, a remnant of humanity, the best and fittest remnant, has survived. And when Veronica finds that vaccine, we’ll save my people from the plague, and from them, we’ll build a better nation. So you see, Five, I don’t blame you for killing him. That was how he wanted it. And I still love him. I always will. Come back to Abel with me now. And thank you for listening. SIGRID HAKKINEN: Ah, there’s my transport to London now. IAN GOLIGHTLY: Minister, are you leaving? SIGRID HAKKINEN: Yes, Ian. IAN GOLIGHTLY: I just thought… it doesn’t matter. Minister, am I in charge of Abel while you’re away? SIGRID HAKKINEN: Of course you are, Ian. IAN GOLIGHTLY: And they must obey me as they’d obey you? SIGRID HAKKINEN: Yes. IAN GOLIGHTLY: So I’m like you now? Not “like you", of course, Minister. What I mean is that, while you’re away, my word goes as yours would? SIGRID HAKKINEN: Yes. Yes, of course. IAN GOLIGHTLY: Then have a safe trip, Minister. And I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.Category:Mission Category:Season Five